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ABSTRACT
Inspection of the liner wear in the mill of an ore dressing plant is one of the critical parameters in the
context of mill downtime and production performance. The total downtime cost during measurement can
be reduced by a significant fraction by using appropriate measurement devices. Due to the different
quality dimensions of a measuring device, e.g. the cost, accuracy, reliability and accessibility, it is
necessary to select an appropriate device based on the specific needs of the industry. Customer satisfaction
is perhaps the most important performance measure for the service quality of the device, and therefore this
paper provides an approach to define the customer satisfaction with reference to the mentioned quality
dimensions. The main aim of this paper is to determine a unified measure or quality index for the service
quality of the measurement device across all the dimensions. Each quality index will then correspond to
the total predicted usability of the particular measurement method based on the industry needs.
Furthermore, this study also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of existing measurement methods
and proposes an indirect measurement method to reduce the downtime during inspection.
Keywords: Liners, Wear, Mining, Mills, Measurement devices
1. INTRODUCTION
Mills used in the mining industry and ore dressing plants are examples of major bottlenecks in the context
of downtime concerning the production of metals. The mills have to be stopped due to planned or
unplanned repair, and these stoppages lead to heavy monetary losses due to production losses. Inside the
mill, abrasive actions take place due to the comminution of ore, and therefore the inner part of the steel
shell is protected by liners, made of rubber and metal or combinations of both. According to [1], and the
expert group within the present study, protection of the mill shell from the aggressive impacting and
abrasive environment inside the mill is the primary purpose of mill liners. Furthermore, mill performance
and liner wear are known to be correlated to the lifter bar geometry [2].
In general, abrasive wear occurs when hard, sharp particles or rough surfaces contact soft surfaces and
remove material by shearing it from the softer surface [3]. This abrasive wear, caused by the ore and the
milling process, will decrease the liner thickness gradually until the mill has to be stopped for replacement
of the liners. Since the repair of the shell will be costly if the protecting liner is too thin, it is important to
check the liner thickness periodically. This procedure is time-consuming and will contribute to the total
downtime costs of the mill. According to an expert group consisting of personnel from company M and L,
out of 6-8 mill stoppages, two stoppages are usually used for pure replacements of liners, and the
remaining 4-6 stoppages are used for pure measurements of the dimensions of the liner.
1
This study focuses on devices for measuring the abrasive wear of mill liners. The study is a survey of the
existing and the possible future methods for direct measurements and the possible indirect methods for
measurements of liner wear. The study uses a systematic approach to determine the quality index of liner
wear and also suggests the most promising existing methods, both for use today and for possible use in the
future. The output of this systematic approach can assist both suppliers and users of the measurement
equipment concerning the optimum choice of measurement method.
The study has been carried out together with a mining company, M, and a mill liner manufacturing
company, L. The study focuses on a particular mill used at an ore dressing plant at the mining company,
M, located in Northern Sweden. The present study is a part of a research project whose goal is to find a
cost-effective maintenance decision system for mills in ore dressing plants.
The literature study and the opinion of the expert group in the present study indicate clearly that the
existing methods today are all based on manual measurement inside the mill, and that the mill has to be
stopped in order to make it possible for personnel to enter the mill and perform the measurements. Since
the largest contribution to the downtime is due to the stopping and starting-up procedure of the mill, it
would be extremely beneficial if it were possible to perform the measurements without stopping the mill.
The measurement of liners is important in terms of mill grinding performance according to [4]. The mill
performance first slightly increases and then decreases until the liners are replaced. The liner replacement
time should be based on an economic comparison of the mill efficiency and the total lining costs.
According to the industrial expert group, the performance of the mill is defined as the throughput of the
desired particle size coming out of the mill.
The economic break point occurs when the cost associated with the drop of throughput is higher that the
cost of relining. Since the mill throughput does not decrease significantly over the useful liner life, it is
practice to replace the liners when they reach a critical thickness susceptible to breakage. Theoretical
methods like the Discrete Element Method (DEM) are widely used in order to predict the wear of the liner
as a function of time, see for example [5] or [6].
2. LITERATURE SURVEY
This section provides a brief introduction to the mill studied, to facilitate a better understanding of the
problem of liner wear. The section briefly presents the different types of existing methods for measuring
liner wear. It also describes a proposed method for indirect measurement of liner wear which does not
involve the mill having to be stopped.
2
Figure 1, Layout of the liners [Source: Company L]
Method no. 1 is an existing measurement method (defined as a measurement method which is practically
useable, while non-existent equipment refers to equipment which has not been fully developed yet and is
not in use). This method is a direct measurement method based on the technique of the terrestrial 3D laser
scanner and data processing algorithms to create a three-dimensional thickness map. It is an active
imaging system that measures the range to an object in a series of uniform increments of arc, resulting in a
three-dimensional map of the object. All the surfaces with a line-of-sight from the scanner are measured
and stored as a three-dimensional coordinate file together with the reflectivity intensity, the latter being
used to shade the scan cloud for a natural appearance. The range is typically measured by the time-to-
flight of a laser pulse or an amplitude-modulated, continuous wave signal [7].
Terrestrial laser scanners are subject to systematic and random errors, but calibration systems for taking
care of significant error sources that are typical of the conditions in a real mill have been developed by [8].
The complete system is today widely used at several plants [9]. See Figure 2.
Approximately five minutes is needed for pure measurement (entering the mill and exiting from the mill
are not included) in order to measure all the liners [7].
No. 2 is a mechanical wear reading device which consists of a frame and 5 rods and gives an accurate
measure of the profile by means of manual inspections. This method is used today at the particular mill
within the present study, see Figure 3. The device requires approximately 30 minutes to measure 12
3
important liners in the mill. However, based on these measurements, it is possible to estimate the
dimensions of the other liners. The accuracy of the instrument is +/- 5 mm and the disturbance sensitivity
is equal to zero. The thickness capacity covers more than 400 mm. The volume of the transporting box
within the device is approximately 12 dm3 and the mass is less than 2 kg.
No. 4 is a direct measurement method, consisting of a thin-film sensor made up of a conductive element
embedded in the liner to be measured [11]. The element comprises a first end positioned at a first distance
from the wear surface, at least one conductive loop covering a wear portion positioned at a second
distance from the wear surface proximate to the first end, and a circuit coupled to at least one element for
determining a continuity of the conductive loop. According to [11] this can be practically solved by means
of using a conductive trace, for example copper film, on a suitable substrate, resulting in a printed
conductive circuit. The substrate can then be fastened to the liner by means of rolling it like a tube and
gluing it into a suitable hole in the liner. In principle, this idea has been tested by company L for
measurements of rubber thickness in pumps, but the authors could not find any real proof of any testing
results in mills or any existing prototypes of this measurement device that would be usable for liners. The
conclusion is that this particular concept has to be evaluated further by means of testing it in a real mill.
See Figure 4.
4
No. 5 is an indirect method based on the measurement of vibrations on the fastening bolt of lifters, using
accelerometers and analyzing the measured data in the frequency domain with Fourier transforms. The
system can typically consist of a 20 kHz accelerometer, data memory, an amplifier and a suitable electric
battery. Indirect measurements of different parameters, such as unwanted collisions between ore and the
liner because of too high an angular velocity of the mill, the density of the pulp inside the mill, the amount
of ore in the mill, the viscosity of the pulp etc, have been performed more or less successfully through
measurements of vibrations on the mill shell or the fastening bolts for the liner, see for instance [12], [13].
Since the size of the liner most probably will affect the forces acting on the liner, it is here assumed that it
should be possible to calibrate measured vibrations on the fastening bolt with real mechanical
measurements of the liner and thus achieve a useable method for predicting the wear of the liner without
stopping the mill. A prototype has been developed by IT Innovation at Luleå University of Technology,
see Figure 5, which shows the prototype mounted on the fastening bolt of a lifter on the shell of a mill.
According to [14], liner wear is a very complex phenomenon, since it results from several complicated and
simultaneous processes. The liner hardness and design, the size and hardness distribution of the charge,
the mill speed etc will all affect the wear rate. An attempt to utilise vibration analysis to predict the
amount of liner wear was reported in [14]. This study was performed on two 10.6 m-diameter SAG mills
in India. The mills are fitted with 48 lifters and operated with a 25% filling with a 6-8% ball load and at a
mill speed of 10.4 rpm. An accelerometer was latched to the surface of the gear box. Continuous vibration
signals were obtained over a period of 3 days. The vibration data was analyzed in the frequency domain.
This data was obtained for both of the mills, one of which was operating with newly installed liners, while
the other one was using worn liners (more than half the estimated liner life having been used). Statistical
analysis of data from these two mills showed that the intensities of the peaks were higher in the case of the
newly lined mill compared to the worn-out mill. The conclusion from the above study is that measurement
principle no. 5 is promising and should be developed further.
There are other measurement principles which have not been considered for detailed analysis to determine
quality indexes, as the required data for different quality dimensions is not available. One such method is
an eddy-current-based electromagnetic method. However, due to the magnetic properties of ore, this
method is not useful in practice. Another method is based on nuclear radiation thickness gauges (beta
radiation, nuclear fluorescence) [10]. Thickness can be determined by measuring the amount of beta
radiation or nuclear fluorescence energy absorbed by a material as it passes between an emitter and a
receiver.
5
The present study proposes an indirect measurement method based on power signature diagnosis without
stopping the mill. The power consumption in the mill will increase or decrease if there are any changes in
the mechanical process. These small changes (typically less than 0.00001%) are measured by means of
current and voltage sensors, and the data is collected by measurement computers with A/D converters. The
next step is to filter the collected data and analyze it with respect to time and frequencies. Today, the
method is in use for the measurement of damages in gears, fans and bearings, etc. The measurement
signals can then be compared with the actual dimensions of the liners, resulting in an indirect
measurement method for predicting the wear of liners. However, the method has not been tested for
predicting the wear of liners.
The measurement signals can be transported to a computer via fibre optical cable for analysis using an
ordinary Excel document. Variation in the power supply of the electric motor can be achieved. Within the
present project, this technique has been tested on the mill owned by the participating company, M. The
power was measured within +/- 0.00001%. The time difference between each measurement was
approximately 0.03 seconds and the accuracy of the time measurements was +/-0.0000001 s.
Figure 6 shows a significant connection between the power and the time when the liners approach the
charge. There is a possibility that the large and small peaks correspond to the high and the low liners
respectively. The height of the lifters will decrease as a function of time due to wear, and this will
probably affect the amplitude of the peaks. By means of calibrating the average amplitudes measured with
this method with the real measured values of the height of the lifters, this method can be used for
estimating the average height of the liners without stopping the mill. This information can be used
concerning the remaining lifetime of the liners, and also for optimum process control of the mill. One of
the possible explanations of the peaks of power is the phenomenon whereby a stone gets stuck between
the liners, causing more power to be needed when the charge strikes that stone.
47,6
47,4
47,2
47
Power (%)
46,8
46,6
46,4
46,2
46
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3
Mesurement time (s)
The continuous measurement of liners regarding the average size can be used for process control, in
combination with ultrasonic devices equipped with wireless transmitters sending data for
measurement of critical spots. These measurements can be used to determine the optimum thickness
of the liner in order to maximize the mill performance.
4. METHOD
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• Demand: In this study the term “demand” is defined as the minimum requirements for the
measurement device which must be fulfilled concerning all the quality dimensions; e.g. the cost
of a piece of equipment must not be more than US$247.5 thousand, i.e. equipment will not
qualify if it does not satisfy the demand limits.
• Quality Index (QI): QI is defined as a quality measure for a given measurement device.
• Expert group: This is the group consisting of experienced personnel from company M and L and
from where both data and information are collected for liner measurements.
For the overall assessment of the measurement devices and determination of the corresponding quality
index, the following quality dimensions are briefly described.
4.2.1 Cost
To calculate the total cost, the following cost elements are included in the cost structure, as shown by
Figure 7. Since we are considering two types of measuring devices, firstly the one procured through
purchase, and secondly the one procured as a service provided by a supplier, we must include the required
cost elements to determine the overall cost.
Measurement by equipment
Measurement by
procured by purchase
equipment procured as a
service
Indirect
cost
Since in the present study the downtime cost is very high in comparison with the purchase cost of the
measurement equipment and the man-hour cost, we are only considering the downtime cost.
For the particular mill in the present study, the loss of production due to the downtime of the mill costs
between US$6,700/h and US$17,000/h, depending on the type of ore, the time used and the amount of
ore. Assuming that the mill, and not the other parts of the ore dressing plant, is the real bottleneck, and
that the energy costs and mining costs are neglected, and assuming a typical combination of ore used at
the participating mining company, then, according to the expert group, this would give a typical downtime
cost corresponding to US$11,000/h.
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4.2.2 Reliability
In this paper the reliability aspect of the equipment is defined as the percentage of the total measurement
time when the measurement device is functional. This reliability dimension also includes the fragility of
the equipment.
4.2.3 Accuracy
The term accuracy is defined as the measurement accuracy of the respective measurement methods, in
conditions without any harmful disturbances and without sensitivity to disturbances. Based on discussions
with experienced industrial personnel from company M, the measurement accuracy concerning critical
measuring spots on the liners should be +/- 5 mm.
4.2.4 Accessibility
The accessibility aspect is defined as the ease of handling of the equipment and the ease of taking
measurements. For direct measurement of the liner wear, the inspector has to go inside the mill, which is
not possible whenever the device exceeds certain dimensions concerning both weight and volume. The
key indicator for the assessment of the accessibility dimension can be defined in terms of the weight,
volume and height of the device. The weight influences the ease of carrying the equipment and the volume
affects how the inspector handles the space constraint while entering into the mill and carrying the
equipment. The data for different pieces of equipment was provided by the expert group for the mill.
5. CASE STUDY
A case study has been carried out involving the ore dressing plant and the liner manufacturing company.
Data and information have been collected from the expert group consisting of personnel from both the
companies. A questionnaire was designed to determine the different quality dimensions and the priority
vectors among all the dimensions.
The most important advantages and disadvantages of the analyzed measurement principles are
summarized in Table 1.
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accurate for spot measurement • Does not provide the complete
profile
• Not a fully developed product for use
in industries
• The sensor will be destroyed when
4 • The mill does not need to be stopped, provided the liner is worn out.
that electronics and software have been • Sensitive to mechanical damage
developed to make it possible to deliver data. • The device must be fastened to the
liner before assembly in the mill.
• Cannot provide a complete profile of
the liner
• The mill does not need to be stopped, provided • No existing fully-developed product
5 that electronics and software have been on the market
developed to make it possible to deliver data. • Does not provide a complete profile
• The mill does not need to be stopped. • The accuracy needs to be tested.
• Low purchase and service cost • No existing fully-developed product
6 • Continuous data measurement is possible, which on the market
can be used to improve production performance. • Cannot provide a complete profile
• Provides average measurement of all
the liners
Pairwise comparison [15] has been carried out between the different quality dimensions and the results
obtained are given in Table 2 below. The information for qualitative comparison has been provided by 5
experts from company M.
Cost ( Wc ) 1 5 1 5 0.414
Î 0.067
Reliability ( W R ) 1/5 1 1/5 1/3
Accuracy ( W Au ) 1 5 1 5 0.468
Accessibility ( W Ac ) 1/5 3 1/5 1 0.103
The pairwise comparison has been carried out based on the information obtained from the discussions
with the expert group.
5.1.1 Liner interpolation: A liner interpolation method [16], [17] was used for giving grades to various
measurement methods for different attributes. The limits for the interpolation were set based on the
minimum needs provided by the expert group (demand) in the scale of 1-5. The grade scale was defined as
in the table below. The minimum grade ‘1’ is given to a method when it just fulfils the minimum
requirement, and the highest grade ‘5’ is given if it is theoretically perfect.
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Table 4: Liner interpolation for quality dimensions
Grade Total Cost Accuracy
($/year) in Reliability (Error +/- Accessibility
thousands) (%) mm)
1 247.50 95.00 20 Just possible to carry into the mill
2 185.62 96.25 15 -
3 123.75 97.50 10 Possible to carry into the mill without
significant problems
4 61.87 98.75 5 -
5 0 100 0 Possible to carry as hand luggage
QI = IGC × WC + IG R × W R + IG Au × W Au + IG Ac × W Ac
Table 6: Liner interpolation for quality dimensions
Methods Quality Index
1 1.44 × 0.414+4.20 × 0.067+4.8 × 0.468+1 × 0.103 = 3.22
2 1.00 × 0.414+5 × 0.067+1 × 0.468+5 × 0.103 = 1.73
3 1.35 × 0.414+5 × 0.067+1 × 0.468+5 × 0.103 = 1.87
Table 6 shows that method no. 1 is the most preferable measurement method since it has the highest
quality index among the three investigated methods.
On the other hand, the service cost, man-hour cost and purchase cost are not included in the quality
index. Today the mining company, M, is using method no. 2, and if they prefer to change to method
no. 1, as this method has better measurement accuracy (see Table 5), then the maximum acceptable
service cost for method no. 1 can be estimated as (247.5 – 220 = US$27.5 thousand/year), provided
only the cost aspect is considered.
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6. CONCLUSIONS
• A systematic evaluation method is proposed for evaluating the optimum choice of equipment for
measuring the wear of liners. The output from the method is highly dependent on the values of the
input variables. Therefore, these variables have to be decided with care and it is suggested that
further development should be carried out by the user in this connection.
• Significant economic savings can be achieved if suitable measurement devices are developed so
that measurements of the liners can be performed without stopping the mill.
• The additional saving of US$27.5 thousand/year for each mill by using laser scanner (method no.
1) instead of the mechanical device (method no. 2) used today can be regarded as equivalent to
the maximum acceptable service cost for the laser scanner, provided that the other quality
dimensions fulfil the requirements of the company, M.
• Concerning complete measurements of all the dimensions of the liner, the useable method today is
laser scanning.
• In this study ultrasonic technique is identified as a promising method capable of measuring rubber
liner with a thickness of 400 mm. Due to fast measurement process it is more preferable than a
mechanical device if only the height of the liner are of interest.
• Power signature diagnosis is identified as a promising method which should be developed further,
since the mill does not need to be stopped and the signals can be used for optimizing the process
and for checking the average condition of the liners.
• A possible future setup for measuring the liners is the use of signature power diagnosis for the
information concerning the average size of the liners and for process control, in combination with
ultrasonic devices equipped with wireless transmitters sending data for the measurement of critical
spots.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank VINNOVA and the supporting companies for the financial support and the expert
group consisting of personnel from the companies involved in this project.
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